A lot of the writers I work with have a great deal of trouble writing a blurb. I’ve given some tips on this before, but they are definitely worth repeating.

Almost as feared as the dreaded synopsis, the book blurb has the power to turn wonderful writers to jelly. But the blurb is the hook, along with the cover, to reel those readers in. You need to make sure that you entice your reader, that you intrigue them without giving too much away. Longer than the elevator pitch, but shorter than a synopsis, the book blurb is key to whetting a reader’s appetite.

So how should you approach it? Here are some quick tips on getting that blurb up to scratch.

Keep it short. This is NOT a synopsis. You want a couple of two to three line paragraphs. Too much and you risk giving too much away and turning…

An open letter to Amazon:

Dear Amazon,

I should be your Holy Grail. I’m the real deal, an actual reader who goes through books carefully, thinks about what they mean and how they’re written, and then writes a considered, thoughtful, and hopefully helpful analysis—in other words, I’m a book reviewer.

Writers, potential customers, publishers, and oh yes—you, Amazon—should be jumping for joy and giving thanks that I’ve taken hours to read and yet more hours to craft reviews for hundreds of books. Instead, Amazon, you’ve decided to punish reviewers like me.

In the name of discouraging “fake” reviews, your new policy requires reviewers like me to spend $50 on Amazon’s US site and even more, £40 on Amazon UK before I can share my review. Have you thought about other solutions, or the effect this will have on legitimate reviewers?

Amazon has figured out how to conduct millions of legitimate…

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I’ve stopped looking at certain magazine articles about travel to places I’ve been because I will not likely go to any of those places again: Los Angeles, Columbus, Atlanta, Miami, Fargo. There’s no point in looking at travel brochures for places I never went to because I will not likely go there now: Tenerife, Juneau, […]

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Originally posted on 20November 2015 in response to the Paris attacks and in light of the recent verbal assault of Donald Trump in a Country where more than 300,000 die in gun related deaths each year I have chosen to reblog this post. France is proud to be a safe country where the purchasing and owning of guns is strictly controlled. We are also proud that our children can go to school without the fear of dying.

“When adults tell me, ‘I have the right to own a gun,’ all I can hear is, ‘My right to own a gun outweighs your student’s right to live.’ All I hear is mine, mine mine, mine.” – Emma Gonzales Survivor Parkland Shooting

“Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add ‘within the law’ because law is often but the tyrant’s will and always so when it violates the rights of individuals.” – Thomas Jefferson

Ever wondered how to remove a book from the reading public’s gaze? Simple. Publish it exclusively on Amazon! The company’s CEO Jeff Bezos only cares about profit. When he realised he was losing money by paying royalties to each and every author who make their book available only through his company, he put a stop […]

by Erica Verrillo on Publishing … and Other Forms of Insanity:

Here are two new agents interested in nonfiction.

Allison Janice (Serendipity) is seeking writers on the topics of cooking, nutrition, health and wellness, self-help, memoir, humor, psychology, history, and science, particularly in the areas of body-positivity, veganism, and environmentalism.

Leslie Meredith is interested in new voices in memoir; in science, psychology, health, nature, and animals; and in spirituality and mind-body-spirit practices.

Always check the agency website before submitting. Agents may switch agencies, and submission requirements can change.

In this article I will show you some of my favorite works by him while attempting to explain how he has influenced my creativity.

Kittelsen was present in my life since I started school. The image above this text (Soria Moria Castle, 1900) was used as the cover of Norwegian literature textbooks.

This was because the image is based on a classic Norwegian fairytale by the same name. In fact, a lot of Kittelsen’s work was based on stories and fairy tales, as he often was contracted to make book illustrations.

One of the main reasons why I love Kittelsen’s work is his use of thematic contrasts.

He often mixes the beauty of Norwegian nature with the creepy horror of Norwegian folklore.

By Stephen Spector on Literary Hub site: Let’s face it: writing isn’t a natural act. Our ancestors may have started speaking between 50,000 and 2 million years ago, but it was only 5,000 years ago that people started to write. Three thousand more years passed before they began to use a system of little points […]

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1- The Silent Tree These birds love the silent tree and like to perch on that bough. You know; the love is unexplained thing but we know it very well. From that lovely bough, the leaves and feathers had fallen with a quarrelsome smile. This was a heavy thing for that tired tree which is filled […]

“Don’t underestimate me because I’m quiet. I know more than I say, think more than I speak and observe more than you know.” Michaela Chung

“Opinion is the lowest form of human knowledge. It requires no accountability, no understanding. The highest form of knowledge is empathy, for it requires us to suspend our egos and live in another’s world. It requires profound purpose, larger than the self kind of understanding.” Bill Bullard

Read old love letters between a young woman named Lillie and her "darling," Georgie. The letters give us a glimpse into life in the early 1900's and a reminder of what it's like to be young and in love.